Learning Leadership Case Study: Today's Turbulent Times Demand Future-Focused Leadership

No one can predict the future, but we can learn to anticipate change and see it as an opportunity. In a time of great upheaval across so many industries, United Way is committed to investing in emerging leaders who will shape United Way, a nonprofit network of 1036 United Ways in 36 countries, for decades to come.
Our vision at United Way is to build a global community of future-ready United Way leaders who are equipped to navigate complexity, lead with vision and empathy, and co-create transformational change with their communities to not just respond to change but co-engineer healthier, more economically successful, resilient communities. ​
 
Through a powerful partnership with Palo Alto’s Institute for the Future, we have integrated Strategic Foresight, systems thinking, and ethical future-focused leadership into an 18-month program that empowers leaders to anticipate the future and use it as opportunity for positive change. All Next-Gen leaders apply what they have learned in designing and implementing a demonstration project in their communities.
 
In its second year, United Way is graduating its first cohorts with 50 graduates by June 2026 and anticipates graduating 500+ leaders by 2030. There are currently 155 program participants from 107 United Ways, 41 U.S. states and 8 countries and that number increases quarterly. 33% of Next-Gen Leaders report promotions attributed to program participation, and Next-Gen maintains a 73% retention rate across this18-month program. Next-Gen Leaders report increased confidence embodying 5 future-focused leadership traits: Agility, Collaboration, Clarity, Humility, and Ethics, and over 50% of their demonstration projects are recognized by network leaders as innovative and scalable to the rest of the United Way network. Investing in leaders, we are investing in the future leaders of our network and our communities.
 
United Way Southern Nevada’s Megan Cortney ( and Next-Gen Leader) will share her leadership journey and how systems thinking and Strategic Foresight helped her lead transformational change by asking: How does a United Way shift from being a charity in the aftermath of disaster to promoting life-centric well-being that protects vulnerable communities before disaster strikes?
 
This case study will discuss how Learning Leadership must prepare leaders for the future, today, and what are the lessons learned from within nonprofit sector that are applicable in any industry.